Murray, who has not played an official event since mid-July at Wimbledon, joins a couple of other big names due to make comebacks. Serena Williams and Stan Wawrinka also hope to return to action but their plans are still unconfirmed with the start of the season now only 10 days away.

His management team insist he will be travelling to Australia and he hopes to compete in the Brisbane Open, starting on January 1.

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The Scot, 30, could yet arrive in good time and that would seem a sensible move after a long lay-off. At this stage you would expect him to be cranking up preparations given the testing conditions he will face in Australia.

Although he has been having drill sessions with coach Jamie Delgado, Murray is not on the now-closed entry list for the doubles in Brisbane — an event that may have tempted a player returning from injury.

The former World No 1 hasn't competed in an official event since playing at Wimbledon

Murray is battling a nagging hip condition that first seemed to handicap him in June’s French Open, where he made the semi-finals. Since his early exit from Queen’s and quarter-final defeat at Wimbledon Murray has seen half-a-dozen specialists, and said last month that he would continue trying rehab rather than any surgical option.

Murray did manage to play Roger Federer in Glasgow to raise funds for his charitable foundation on November 7. Although he hit the ball sweetly, he looked short of his usual standards and seemed to have a slight limp.

It is possible that he could delay his departure to Australia but he would surely want to play a regular tour event before tackling a Grand Slam.

Murray, whose wife Kim gave birth to their second daughter in early November, is not alone in having doubts swirl around him. Wawrinka and Milos Raonic pulled out of next week’s exhibition event in Abu Dhabi. Switzerland’s Wawrinka says he is not ready after knee surgery.

Murray made a brief return in an exhibition defeat by Roger Federer in November

There have also been conflicting signals coming from Serena Williams, 36, who is entered at Melbourne after giving birth to her first child on September 1.

The American was seemingly booked to speak at a conference in Florida on January 23. Yesterday, however, a hotel group announced she would be at the Australian Open as their ‘official ambassador’.

On social media she referred recently to the trials of motherhood, along with the odd tennis reference, and at 5am yesterday reported that she was ‘thinking about tacos’. There does not appear to be anything conclusive about her plans as yet.

The Scot is rumoured to have pulled out of training sessions at the All England Club